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FOR most of us here in Africa what we know has always been defined by what others know or rather what they think they know about us. Externally generated forms of knowledge and paradigms tend to shape what is possible for us as people and as nations. At TrustAfrica, we believe that higher education should be a critical engine for redefining and repositioning ourselves for shared economic growth and social progress. We realize that our future and that of the next generation depends on improving the quality and relevance of higher education to ensure that it adequately responds to the challenges that we face as a continent. This e-book presents some important thinking that can potentially contribute towards specific actions that need to be taken and hopefully help us forge this new future.

Aicha Bah Diallo Chair TrustAfrica 

The fund was established by the Open Society, MacArthur and Ford Foundations to aid the current Nigerian government in its campaign to fight corruption and institute criminal justice reforms. It aims to contribute towards the advancement of accountability and probity in public service in Nigeria by ensuring that those who abuse the public trust are predictably brought to justice. TrustAfrica oversees and administers the fund’s activities. 

Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa and the new administration has demonstrated strong political will in tackling corruption. The fund is supporting that effort by looking at innovative ways to use technologies like social media and citizen participation to increase public opprobrium for corruption. We are collaborating with partners to build synergies, in some cases providing support for institutional capacity building. Future plans may focus on criminal justice reform and other activities, including the establishment of a civil society–government monitoring partnership and assessing the risk of corruption and capacity gaps in institutions that focus on anticorruption and criminal justice. The fund is also looking beyond legal and institutional reform and international processes to influencing behavior at local and national levels.

Background

The Anti-Corruption and Criminal Justice Reform Fund in Nigeria (the Fund) is a two-year, multi-donor initiative established by the Ford, Open Society and MacArthur Foundations (the Foundations) in order to support the current Nigerian administration in its resolve to fight corruption and its underlying factors as well as institute criminal justice reform. As fiscal manager, TrustAfrica oversees the management and administration of the Fund in close and robust liaison with the Foundations and the Nigerian Presidency. The Fund was established in mid-2015 to contribute towards the advancement of probity and accountability in public service in Nigeria and ensure that those who indulge in the abuse of public trust are predictably brought to justice.

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ROYNF (Robert and Yeranda Nkosi Foundation) is a micro level incremental innovation complemented by comparative data which seeks to raise learning outcomes by developing a language appropriate participative learning model.  The ROYNF approach is compatible with Uganda’s national Thematic Curriculum, and yet distinct, in that, it features pupils’student group work, application in private schools, and kinaesthetic/participative activities.  While these might not be new ideas, their application in this context is innovative.  This project targets Lumasaaba language speakers, but the approach should be useful in other languages, as well.

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The MECPK project has evolved significantly since its first iteration. It now includes the review, revision, and implementation of the Reading for Comprehension methodology (RfC), teacher training in that revised methodology, the use of an improved student learning assessment tool, comparison of learning outcomes to baseline and to a control group, increased parental support, and the establishment of local libraries.  

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ELEP (Early Learning Enhancement Project), a micro level incremental innovation complemented by comparative data, seeks to raise learning outcomes by engaging and empowering community education stakeholders to produce context-specific strategies, training events and learning innovations which address the realities of each individual project school. This is done by an annual cycle of assessment, analysis of resultant data, stakeholder interaction, creation of a work plan, and community action.  This cycle addresses learning outcomes as well as school management and school environment.

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The FDK (Federation Dimbaya Kanyalen) project aims to raise reading outcomes by implementing a micro level reading skills acquisition approach, Stratégie Active pour la Réusite d’une Ecole Novatrice (SARENA), intended originally to be complemented by comparative data.  The SARENA approach is designed for French speaking students in their first two years of primary school.  SARENA uses a very global methodology, in that, it heavily features word shape and text memorization.  Development of decoding skills is less stressed.  For the sake of external relations, the district-level academic inspectorate received additional training and was made responsible for monitoring, despite its recognized inability to perform well in this capacity.  FDK also features community/parental involvement through the acquisition and use of mobile phones to facilitate communication between teachers and parents.  Other partners include the Bureau Artichaut of Dakar which provides training and materials for SARENA.